Bellows brush



Dec. l5, 1959 R. PEILET ETAL 2,916,757

BELLows BRUSH Filed June 6, 1958 3 Sheets-Sheet l .4 76 22 66 M Fmi I +-4 J n/f l l 82 :.-1 ,t v. 6 6 INVENToRs 46 E l" LESTER r2. Pemer 50 IN" 5o BY PHv/AVTATE www w -C/ 9L M I8 ATTORNEYS Dec. 15, 1959 L. R. PEILET ET AL l 2,916,757

BELLows BRUSH Filed June e, 1958' s sheets-sheet 2 l 4 7G J 86 "44 8G Y- lNvENToRs LESTER n. pews-r F1 q. G palsmnam ATTORNEYS United States Patent BELLows BRUSH Lester R. Peilet, Tucson, Ariz., and Philip Kaye, Norridge, and Edward E. Tate, Chicago, Ill.; said Kaye and Tate assignors to said Peilet Application .lune 6, 1958, Serial No. 740,410

7 Claims. (Cl. 15-184) This invention relates to brushes in general and hair brushes in particular, and pertains especially to hair brushes of the type having a cleaning plate for stripping hair and other foreign matter olf the bristles.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved brush having a cleaning plate with holes therein for slidably receiving the bristles, together with bellows means connected between the cleaning plate and the body of the brush for enclosing and concealing the bristles when the cleaning plate is extended to the tips thereof.

A further object is to provide a new and improved brush of the foregoing character, having the added feature of means, preferably associated with the bellows, for limiting extension of the cleaning plate so that the cleaning plate will not become disengaged from the bristles.

.Another object is to provide a new and improved brush in which the bellows comprises telescopically extensible and nestable pans or similar members made of thin sheet metal or other sturdy resilient material.

A further object is to provide a new and improved brush ofthe foregoing character which is arranged so that the brush may be used very conveniently when the cleaning plate is retracted to expose the bristles, and which is compact and hence may be carried with ease in a pocket or purse, when the cleaning plate is extended to enclose and protect the bristles.

Another object is to provide such a new and improved brush which is highly serviceable, yet is easy to manufacture and low in cost.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will appear from the following description, taken with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a hair brush to be described as an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the brush, partly in longitudinal section.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section, taken along a line 3 3 in Fig. l.

Fig. 4 is a transverse section, taken generally along a broken line 4 4 in Fig. l.

Fig. 5 is a-n exploded side elevational view of the brush, partly in longitudinal section.

Fig. 6 is a view showing the underside or bottom of the cleaning plate employed in the brush.

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view, similar to the right-hand portion of Fig. 5, and taken along a line 7 7 in Fig. 1 to show details of the cleaning plate, the line 7 7 also being shown in Fig. 8.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary enlarged horizontal section, taken along a line 8 8 in Fig. 4.

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical section, taken along a line 9 9 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 10 is a top view of the upper bellows member employed in the brush of Fig. l.

Fig. 11 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical section taken along a line 11 11 in Fig. 10.

Fig. l2 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical section along a line 12 12 in Fig. l0.

It will be apparent that Figs. 1 4 illustrate a brush 14 which is intended primarily as a hair brush, but may also be employed for any other use, either in the identical form shown, or with appropriate modifications to suit the desired use. yIn general, the illustrated brush 14 comprises a body member or plate 16 with a plurality of bristles mounted in tufts 18 on the upper side thereof. While the words upper and lower, and other similar terms, will be used for convenience in this application, it will be understood that these terms are used merely to indicate the relative positions of the components, and that the brush may be held or used in any desired position.

As clearly indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, the brush 14 is provided with a cleaning plate 20 which is movable toward and away from the upper side of the body plate 16. The illustrated cleaning plate 20 has a multitude of holes 22 for slidably receiving the bristle tufts 18. In Figs. 2 and 3, the cleaning plate 20 is shown in its extended and retracted positions, with the plate at the tips and the bases of the bristles, respectively. When the cleaning plate 20 is retracted, as shown in Fig. 3, the bristles 18 are exposed for use. When the cleaning plate 20 is moved between the bases and the tips of the bristles, the plate is effective to strip or scrape any hair, loose dandrulf or other foreign matter off the bristles. The tufts 18 t with suicient closeness within the holes 22 to insure that the plate will have an effective cleaning action. As indicated in Fig. 9, each hole 22 has a flaring lower portion 24 to guide the tips of the bristles into the hole during assembly and initial retracting movement of the cleaning plate 20.

While the body plate 16 and the cleaning plate 20 may be made in various ways from various materials, it is preferred to mold them from suitable plastics. Preferably, the cleaning plate 20 is made of a fairly ilexible resilient material, for a purpose to be described in detail p shortly.

When the cleaning plate 20 is extended, it protects and largely conceals the bristles 18. ln order that the bristles may be substantially completely enclosed when the cleaning plate 20 is extended, the brush 14 is provided with a bellows 26 which is connected between the body plate 16 and the cleaning plate 20. The bellows 26 is extensible and collapsible so as to fit compactly between the body plate 16 and the cleaning plate 20 when the latter is retracted. In this way, the brush is extremely compact and easy to use when the bristles are exposed, as shown in Fig. 3.

It will be understood that the bellows 26 may assume any usual or suitable form. However, it s preferred to form the bellows 26 of sheet metal or some other similar thin-walled resilient material, such as various plastics, for example. Thus, the illustrated bellows 26 comprises a plurality of thin-walled members which are adapted to nest one within the other when the cleaning plate 20 is retracted, and are movable into relatively extended positions when the cleaning plate is extended. In the illustrated case, two such bellows members are employed, consisting of an inner bellows member 28 and an outer member 30. It will be seen that the bellows members 28 and 30 have a general resemblance to anged trays or pans. For convenience, they may be referred to as pans.

The illustrated bellows members or pans 28 and 30 are formed with main walls 32 and 34, respectively, which are parallel with the cleaning plate 20 and are formed with holes 36 through which the bristles 18 may pass. In this case, each of the walls 28 and 30 has one hole for each of the bristle tufts. To facilitate assembly of the brush, a generally frusto-conical projection 38 is struck upwardly from the walls 32 and 34 around each of the holes 36. The projections 38 provide downwardly aring entrance portions 40 at the lower ends of the holes 36 to facilitate entry of the bristle tufts 18 into the holes.

From Figs. 2, 3 and 4, it will be apparent that the bellows members or pans 28 and 30 are adapted to be telescoped or nested into the cleaning plate 20 when the cleaning plate is retracted toward the body plate 16. In order to receive and enclose the pans 28 and 30 and a portion of the body plate 16, the cleaning plate 20 is formed with a peripheral ilange 42 which projects downwardly toward the body plate 16. A shallow cavity 44 is thus formed in the underside of the cleaning plate 20. In this case the body plate 16 and the cleaning plate 20 are generally rectangular in shape. Thus, the ilanged portion 42 of the cleaning plate 20 comprises a pair of longitudinal side walls 45 and a pair of end walls 46. Longitudinal grooves or channels 48 are formed in the upper side of the body plate 16, adjacent the edges thereof, to receive the side walls 44 of the cleaning plate 20 when the latter is retracted against the body plate 16. The end walls 46 of the cleaning plate are adapted to slip over the ends of the body plate 16. It will be apparent from Fig. 4 that the body plate 16 has outboard side portions 50, outside the grooves 48, which provide convenient hand grips for holding the body portion while the cleaning plate 20 is being extended and retracted. Of course, the brush may also be held by the hand grip portions 50 when the brush is being used for brushing hair or the like.

The illustrated bellows members or pans 28 and 30 have peripheral llange means S2 and 54 thereon, projecting downwardly from the main walls 32 and 34 toward the body plate 16. It will be apparent that the flanged portions 52 and 54 are adapted to close the gap between the body plate 16 and the cleaning plate 20 when the latter is extended. The lower or inner flange portion 52 telescopes into the upper or outer flange portion 54 when the cleaning plate 20 is retracted. Similarly, the upper flange portion 54 telescopes into the cavity 44 defined by the peripheral ilange 42 on the cleaning plate. The upper portion of the body plate 16 telescopes into the lower or inner pan 28. Thus, the ilange portions 52 and 54 of the pans 28 and 30 are received between the body plate 16 and the peripheral flange 42 of the cleaning plate, when the latter is retracted. This will be clearly apparent from Fig. 3.

In this case, the flange means 52 on the lower pan 28 comprise a pair of longitudinal side walls 60 and a pair of end walls 62. Likewise, the flange means 54 on the upper pan 30 comprise longitudinal side walls 64 and end walls 66. In each case, the side walls are not joined to the end walls, so that the walls are free to flex independently of each other when the cleaning plate 20 is extended and retracted.

Guides and stops or catches are provided on the body plate 16, the cleaning plate 20, and the bellows members or pans 28 and 30 to facilitate the extension and retraction of these components and to limit the extending movement of the cleaning plate 20. In this case, the extension of the lower pan 28 is limited by internal flanges 70 on the lower ends of the end walls 62. From Fig. 2, it will be apparent that the ilanges 70 project into horizontal grooves, or channels 72 formed in the ends of the body plate 16. The grooves 72 are sufliciently wide to provide for the full range of the extending and retracting movement of the lower pan 28.

To guide the movement of the pans 28 and 30, the upper pan 30 is formed with vertical ridges 74 which project outwardly from the longitudinal side walls 64. In this case, two such ridges are formed on each end Wall near the opposite ends thereof. The ridges 74 are slidably received in vertical guide grooves 76 formed in the side anges 44 on the cleaning plate 20.

From Figs. 4 and 12, it will be apparent that the formation of each ridge 74 on the upper pan 30 forms a corresponding groove or channel 78 on the inside of the pan.

Each groove 78 extends from the top or main wall 34 of the pan 30 to a point near the lower edge of the side wall 64. At this point, the lower end of the groove 78 is effectively closed by a stop element 80 constituting an undeformed portion of the side wall 64. Each guide groove 78 is adapted to be followed by a corresponding ear or catch 82 on the lower pan 28. Each ear 82 is struck outwardly from one of the side walls 60 and is arranged to slant downwardly and outwardly so as to be engageable with the corresponding stop 80. Of course, the engagement of the catch 82 with the stop 80 limits the extending movement of the upper pan 30 with respect to the lower pan 28.

To limit the extension of the cleaning plate 20, the upper pan 30 is formed with catches or ears 84 which are struck outwardly from the side walls 64 and are arranged to slant outwardly and downwardly. The catches 84 are slidable along vertical grooves 86 in the side flanges 44 of the cleaning plate 20. As shown to best advantage in Fig. 7, each of the grooves 86 terminates at a point above the lower edge of the side wall 44 and thus is closed at its lower end by a stop element 88. The engagement of the catches 84 with the stops 88 limits the extension of the cleaning plate 20.

The brush 14 is provided with detent means for detaining the cleaning plate 20 in both its extended and retracted positions. The detent elements are formed on the body plate 16, the cleaning plate 20, and the bellows members or pans 28 and 30.

Thus, the lower pan 28 is provided with four detent elements in the form of two vertically spaced beads or outwardly projecting ridges 90 and 92 on the end anges 62. Both of the beads 90 and 92 are horizontal, or parallel to the top wall 32. The bead 90 is formed at the top of the end flange 62, while the bead 92 is disposed near the lower extremity of the flange. Because of the thin-walled construction of the pan 28, each of the beads 90 and 92 provides a ridge on the outside of the flange 62 and a groove or channel on the inside thereof.

Each end of the illustrated body plate 16 has a detent element 94 adapted to be detained in the inside of either of the beads 90 and 92. It will be apparent from Figs. 2 and 3 that the detent elements 94 take the form of thin walls or ledges overhanging the grooves 72 in the plate 16. When the lower pan 28 is retracted, the detents 94 snap into the grooves formed on the insides of the upper beads 90. When the lower pan 28 is extended, the end flanges 62 ilex outwardly to such an extent that the detents 94 are disengaged from the beads 90. In the full extended position of the lower pan 28, the detents 94 snap into the lower beads 92, as shown in Fig. 2.

In this case, the upper pan 30 is provided with upper and lower detents in the form of horizontal beads 96 and 98 on the end flanges 66. When the upper pan 30 is retracted, the beads 96 and 98 snap over the beads 90 and 92, respectively, on the lower pan 28. Extension of the upper pan 30 brings the lower bead 98 on the pan 30 into engagement with the upper bead 90 on the pan 28. The end walls 66 flex sutliciently to permit the extension and retraction of the pans 28 and 30.

The illustrated cleaning plate 20 is provided with upper and lower horizontal detent grooves 100 and 102 which are formed on the insides of the end anges 46. When the cleaning plate 20 is retracted, as shown in Fig. 3, the grooves 100 and 102 snap over the beads 96 and 98, respectively, on the upper pan 30. Extension of the cleaning plate 20 causes the upper beads 96 to snap into the lower detent grooves 102, as shown in Fig. 2. As a1- ready indicated, the cleaning plate 20 is preferably made of a fairly flexible, resilient material. In this way, the cleaning plate 20 may flex suiciently to facilitate extension and retraction of the cleaning plate.

The brush 14 is normally stored or carried with the cleaning plate 20 extended so as to guard or protect the bristles 18. The bellows members or pans 28 and 30 enclose and conceal the bristles so as to keep the bristles clean, while lending an extremely attractive appearance to the brush. When the brush is to be used, the cleaning plate 20 and the body plate 16 are pushed together so as to collapse the bellows 26. When the cleaning plate 20 is retracted, the bristles 18 are fully exposed, while the bellows members or pans 28 and 30 are fully concealed Within the flange portion 42 of the cleaning plate. The brush is detained in its active position by the nested engagement of the detent elements 90, 96 and 100, and the similar engagement of the elements 92, 98 and 102.

For use in brushing the hair or the like, the body plate 16 is held by the grip members 50 along the sides thereof. It will be apparent from Fig. 3 that the cleaning plate 20 collapses so compactly against the body plate 16 that the brush is extremely convenient to use.

When the owner is through using the brush, he normally will extend the bristle plate 20 so as to strip any hair or other foreign material from the bristles 18. The cleaning plate 20 is extended by pulling it away from the body plate 16, while the latter is held by the grip members 50. In order to facilitate this operation, it will be seen that the ends of the cleaning plate 20 are provided with grip elements in the form of ridges 106. The outward movement of the cleaning plate 20 extends the bellows members or pans 28 and 30. It will be apparent from Fig. 4 that the catches 82 and 84 limit the outward extension of the cleaning plate 20.

The lower pan 28 is detained in its extended position by the engagement of the detents 94 with the insides of the beads 92. Similarly, the beads 90 engage the insides of the beads 98 to detain the upper pan 30 in its extended position. The cleaning plate 20 is detained in its extended position by the engagement of the beads 96 with the detent grooves 102.

It will be apparent that the brush is easy to use and may readily be operated between its inactive and active positions, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Moreover, it will be evident that the brush is rugged in construction and attractive in appearance. With all of these advantages, the brush may be manufactured easily and at low cost. It is easy to assemble the plates 16 and 20 and the pans 28 and 30 by flexing the pans and the cleaning plate 20 so that the detent and stop elements may be engaged with one another. When the brush has been assembled, the components will not come apart by accident, because of the arrangement of the catches 82 and 84.

Various other modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents may be employed without departing from the true spirit and scope of the invention as exemplified in the foregoing description and defined in the following claims.

We claim:

1. A brush, comprising a body plate, a plurality of bristles mounted in tufts on one side of said plate, a cleaning plate having a plurality of holes therein slidably receiving said bristles, said cleaning plate being movable between the bases and the tips of said tufts to strip foreign matter off said bristles, said bristles being exposed for use when said cleaning plate is engaged with the bases of said tufts and being guarded by said cleaning plate when said cleaning plate is moved to the tips of said bristles, said cleaning plate having a flange extending around its periphery and directed toward said body plate, said flange defining a cavity in the underside of said cleaning plate, said body plate having a portion receivable in said cavity when said cleaning plate is retracted to the bases of said bristles, a bellows means connected between said cleaning plate and said body plate for limiting extension of said cleaning plate and enclosing said bristles with said cleaning plate in its extended position adjacent the tips of said bristles, said bellows means comprising a plurality of telescopically extensible and retractable thin-walled metal pans movable into nested relation when said cleaning plate is retracted toward said body plate, each of said pans having a wall portion generally parallel to said cleaning plate, said wall portion having holes therein for passing said bristle tufts, each of said pans having side wall flange means extending from said wall portion toward said body plate, said side wall flange means of said pans being receivable one within another and being movable between said body plate and said peripheral flange on said cleaning plate when said cleaning plate is retracted toward said body plate, said body plate, cleaning plate and pans having detent elements thereon for detaining said cleaning plate in both its extended and retracted positions, said pans having catch means thereon for limiting the extending movement of said cleaning plate.

2. A brush, comprising a body plate, a plurality of bristles mounted in tufts on one side of said plate, a cleaning plate having a plurality of holes therein slidably receiving said bristles, said cleaning plate being movable lbetween the bases and the tips of said tufts to strip foreign matter olf said bristles, said bristles being exposed for use when said cleaning plate is engaged with the bases of said tufts and being guarded by said cleaning plate when said cleaning plate is moved to the tips of said bristles, said cleaning plate having a flange extending around its periphery and directed toward said body plate, said flange defining a cavity in the underside of said cleaning plate, said body plate having a portion receivable in said cavity when said cleaning plate is retracted to the bases of said bristles, and bellows means connected between said cleaning plate and said body plate for limiting extension of said cleaning plate and enclosing said bristles with said cleaning plate in its extended position adjacent the tips of said bristles, said bellows means comprising a plurality of telescopically extensible and retractable thin-walled metal pans movable into nested relation when said cleaning plate is retracted toward said body plate, each of said pans having a wall portion generally parallel to said cleaning plate, said wall portion having holes therein for passing said bristle tufts, each of said pans having side wall flange means extending from said wall portion toward said body plate, said side wall flange means of said pans being receivable one within another and being movable between said body plate and said peripheral flange on said cleaning plate when said cleaning plate is retracted toward said body plate.

3. A brush, comprising a body plate, a plurality of bristles mounted in tufts on one side of said plate, a cleaning plate having a plurality of holes therein slidably receiving said bristles, said cleaning plate being movable between the bases and the tips of said tufts to strip foreign matter off said bristles, said bristles being exposed for use when said cleaning plate is engaged with the bases of said tufts and being guarded by said cleaning plate when said cleaning plate is moved to the tips of said bristles, said cleaning plate having a flange extending around its periphery and directed toward said body plate, said flange defining a cavity in the underside of said cleaning plate, said body plate having a portion receivable in said cavity when said cleaning plate is retracted to the bases of said bristles, and bellows means connected between said cleaning plate and said body plate for limiting extension of said cleaning plate and enclosing said bristles with said cleaning plate in its extended position adjacent the tips of said bristles, said bellows means comprising a plurality of telescopically extensible and retractable thin-walled metal pans movable into nested relation when said cleaning plate is retracted toward said body plate, each of said pans having a wall portion generally parallel to said cleaning plate, said wall portion having holes therein for passing said bristle tufts. each of said pans having side wall flange means extending from said wall portion toward said body plate, said side wall flange means of said pans being receivable one Within another and being movable between said body plate and said peripheral flange on said cleaning plate when said cleaning plate is retracted toward said body plate, said body plate, cleaning plate and pans having detent elements thereon for detaining said cleaning plate in both its extended and retracted positions.

4. A brush, comprising a body plate, a plurality of bristles mounted in tufts on one side of said plate, a cleaning plate having a plurality of holes therein slidably receiving said bristles, said cleaning plate being movable between the bases and the tips of said tufts to strip foreign matter off said bristles, said bristles being exposed for use when said cleaning plate is engaged with the bases of said tufts and being guarded by said cleaning plate when said cleaning plate is moved to the tips of said bristles, said cleaning plate having a flange extending around its periphery and directed toward said body plate, said flange defining a cavity in the underside of said cleaning plate, said body plate having a portion receivable in said cavity when said cleaning plate is retracted to the bases of said bristles, and bellows means connected between said cleaning plate and said -body plate for limiting extension of said cleaning plate and enclosing said bristles with said cleaning plate in its extended position adjacent the tips of said bristles, said bellows means comprising a plurality of telescopically extensible and retractable thin-walled metal pans movable into nested relation when said cleaning plate is retracted toward said body plate, each of said pans having a wall portion generally parallel to said cleaning plate, said wall portion having holes therein for passing said bristle tufts, each of said pans having side wall flange means extending from said Wall portion toward said body plate, said side wall flange means of said pans being receivable one within another and being movable between said body plate and said peripheral flange on said cleaning plate when said cleaning plate is retracted toward said body plate, said pans having catch means thereon for limiting the extending movement of said cleaning plate.

5. A brush, comprising a body plate having a plurality of bristles mounted in tufts on one side thereof, a cleaning plate movable toward and away from said side of said body plate and having a plurality of holes therein slidably receiving said bristle tufts, said cleaning plate being movable between the bases and tips of said tufts for stripping foreign matter off said brisles, a peripheral flange portion on said cleaning plate and projecting toward said body plate, said peripheral flange portion having a pair of longitudinal side Walls and a pair of end walls, said body plate having a pair of longitudinal grooves in said one side thereof for receiving said side walls of said flange portion, said end walls of said flange portion being receivable over the ends of said body plate, and inner and outer telescopically extensible and retractable bellows members connected between said body plate and said cleaning plate for limiting extension of said cleaning plate and enclosing said bristles with said cleaning plate in its extended position, said bellows members comprising thin-walled metal pans movable into nested relation within said flange portion of said cleaning plate, each of said pans having a main wall generally parallel to said cleaning plate and formed with holes for passing said bristle tufts, each pan having peripheral flange means projecting from said main wall toward said body plate, each pan having first and second spaced detent means formed in said flange means for detaining said pans in both their extended and retracted positions, said body plate having detent elements engageable with said detent means on said inner pan, said peripheral flange portion of said cleaning plate having first and second spaced internal groove elements therein engageable with said detent means on said outer pan for detaining said cleaning plate in both its extended and retracted positions, and catch means on said plates and said pans for limiting extension of said cleaning plate.

6. In a brush, the combination comprising a body plate, a plurality of bristles disposed in tufts on one side of said plate, a cleaning plate having a plurality of holes therein slidably receiving said tufts, said cleaning plate being movable toward and away from said body plate between the bases and tips of said tufts to strip hair and other foreign material off said bristles, and a telescopically extensible and retractable bellows connected between said body plate and said cleaning plate and enclosing said bristles, said bellows comprising a plurality of thin-walled shells movable into nested relation one within another when said cleaning plate is moved downwardly to the bases of said tufts, said shells having stop elements thereon limiting extension of said bellows and said cleaning plate, said shells having interengageable detent elements thereon for detaining said cleaning plate in its extended position at the tips of said bristles.

7. In a brush, the combination comprising a body plate, a plurality of bristles disposed in tufts on one side of said plate, a cleaning plate having a plurality of holes therein slidably receiving said tufts, said cleaning plate being movable toward and away from said body plate between the bases and tips of said tufts to strip hair and other foreign material off said bristles, and a telescopically extensible and retractable bellows connected between said body plate and said cleaning plate and enclosing said bristles, said bellows comprising a plurality of thin-Walled shells movable into nested relation one within another when said cleaning plate is moved downwardly to the bases of said tufts, said shells having stop elements thereon limiting extension of said bellows and said cleaning plate, said shells having a plurality of interengageable detent elements for detaining said cleaning plate in its extended and retracted positions at the tips and the bases of said bristles.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 670,254 Slater Mar. 19, 1901 1,303,500 Rosenberg May 13, 1919 1,425,959 Grzebinski Aug. 15, 1922 2,529,927 Fisk Nov. 14, 1950 2,708,765 Vann May 24, 1955 2,769,192 Satzinger Nov. 6, 1956 

